Color Me

Color Me

By: Courtney Hodge 11/06/2008

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Race means so many things even though it is such a small word. It means to sprint against another person and it means the color of one’s skin or it could be the race to the white house. Being of a certain race can be a positive or a negative depending on who you are talking to. I live in a small town 95% white, 3%black, and 2% Asian. I grew up with one black girl and she was the only one who went to my school. There were no Asian kids that went to school with me but there are about 5 in the upcoming graduating class. It is sad that there are not more because I think we can all learn from one another. Unfortunately, growing up in a small white town has many drawbacks; meaning there is much ignorance and hatred towards people of another color. The present election has brought this forward and it has shown people’s true “colors” – no pun intended – when it comes to people of another race or ethnicity. I did some canvassing for Barack Obama and I was threatened and screamed at and was called names. I was absolutely astonished at the level of hatred over someone’s skin color. It disgusted me but it also made me open my eyes to what was really going on in my community. Ever since April I have been watching my community and doing some internal research on what people truly feel. Instead of canvassing and literally being harassed, I decided to make phone calls instead. I called over 2,000 people in a month and my research shows that 15% of the people not voting for Barack are doing so because he is black. I was shocked to say the least. I grew up in a household that was never prejudice or that judged people by their skin color so this was astonishing to me. Recently my state of Pennsylvania was in the news because of a statement that out congressman, John Murtha, made. He said that “Western Pennsylvanians are racists.” Well, he is not that far off. Western PA has the highest number of KKK members in the north and in the whole state. (Friar) I do not think that he meant any harm by that statement but it definitely made an impact. I recently spoke with Senator Bob Regola about the comments and asked him if he

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thought the statement had any merit. He told me that he “doesn’t feel that accurately represents his district in any way and he has not seen any form of racism here”. I told him about my experiences campaigning for President Obama and he decided to end the conversation. From what I have witnessed I do not believe the local government actually treats people of another color any differently I just feel that they are ignorant to the racism that is clearly present here. I also spoke with some of my neighbors after congressman Murtha made his statement and asked how they felt about it. 5 out of the 10 people I spoke with agree with him and the other 5 said that they would like to think more highly of the people in their community. Ignorance must be bliss. I have been paying close attention to how people react to African Americans in the community and I have noticed that some people will not make eye contact or will walk on the other side of the store when a black person is around. Only about 10% of the people I have watched have done that but 10% is too high for me. When we continue to treat people differently because of the color of their skin it shows how far we have not come since the civil rights movement. Yes, we may have a black man as a President but there is still that underlying hatred that is scarier than the ones who were outspoken in the 60’s. I watch the news constantly to see what is going in my area and all I see are shootings, robberies, or murders happening in the Pittsburgh area. 90% of the crime that is reported on is related to a person of color. Yet, when I do research I see that there are an equal of crimes between the white race and the black race. The media is definitely a little biased when it comes to that aspect. I watched relentlessly the night of the election and I was surprised to see how many people were surprised by the outcome. I knew full well that Barack Obama was going to be elected but the media looked truly shocked. I was moved however by the tears, cheers, hugs, and kisses shared that night by complete strangers because he won the election. I am hoping that

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as Americans as a whole we are not a racist nation. Unfortunately in my own community people were not so joyful. The small town that I live in now is 99% white and McCain/Palin signs ran rampant here. People were afraid to put their Obama signs up because they feared someone would destroy their house or car. My neighbor put a sign in his window and he had a rock thrown through it. That is the drawback from living in a community that is based on one race; ignorance and fear. Minorities are not an issue here because they just so not exist here. Their needs and right are forgotten and so is their impact on a community. When you have different ethnic groups living in a community people tend to be more understanding and “well rounded”. I speak to some of my friends who have moved to Pittsburgh and they have said that there is not that underlying hate there because it is so diverse. There are Asians, African Americans, Latinos, and Indians living in the community or at least close to each other. I would like to introduce different cultures into my community so maybe they can have a better understanding of them. I would have a community event with different food dishes from other countries, have people from other ethnic groups participate in the event, and also have the community get involved by letting them make an ethnic dish themselves and give them the history of why this particular dish is important to that culture. I think that just opening people’s minds about different cultures would make a world of a difference. I cannot stress education of others enough. Education is the key in the understanding and tolerance of others. Going back to the election of Barack Obama, his speech that night rang true to what hopefully America is going to become. I am hoping that my community will change with the rest of the country and find that people of another color are not the enemy or they are not to hated based on that fact. I am hopeful that one day my small, white community will become a community that is full of different people from many backgrounds and ethnic groups. I think that

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once people see that people of other colors and ethnic groups are just like them, it will become a better community. On November 4th, 2008 we had an historic thing happen in this country that represents the whole; we just need to fill in the “cracks”. As President Obama stated that night, “Change has finally come to America.”

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